Daisy Miller: Illustration Of An Unlived Life

Illustration of an Unlived Life
"The brave don't live forever but the cautious don't live at all. The only thing that's truly terrifying is the unlived life," says Bill See, author of “33 Days: Touring in A Van. Sleeping On Floors. Chasing a Dream.” Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady of the thirty-second president Franklin Roosevelt, once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Individuals tend to stay in their comfort zone and not challenge themselves more to overcome obstacles that scare and otherwise dare them to realize their dreams and live fulfilling, purposeful lives. The works of Henry James, Mary E Wilkins, and Langston Hughes, deliver distinct explanations of obstacles that one should overcome to avoid an unlived life by living
Winterbourne. First, the character Mr Winterbourne focus all his attention on the social ideal of Mrs. Costello's era and misses the chance to live his life fully. In contrast, Daisy on the other end of tradition, breaks all the social ideals of the time period and takes advantage of all opportunities to live her life to the fullest. Winterbourne must live up to the traditions of his aunt. Critic Lynn Wardley article "Reassembling Daisy Miller" believes that in “Daisy Miller: A Study” “Winterbourne is accustomed to the ideals of Mrs. Costello” (1), who…never [understood] coalitions of interests, and if she refused to learn to recognize them, maybe they would all go away” (3). Winterbourne lives in the past and idolizing the pre-judgment of others. Mrs. Costello speaks to Winterbourne in the beginning of the
During the nineteenth century, women were expected to live only through the desires of their husbands’ society’s beliefs. Sarah notices that Adoniram starts construction on a new barn in place of a new house promised by her husband forty years prior. Critic Rena Korb believes that in “The Revolt of `Mother',” “Freeman presents a rebellious Sarah Penn a woman…accustomed to obeying her husband ,but reaches her limit when her husband Adoniram builds a new, spacious barn on the very spot where he had for decades promised to build her a new house”(1). Subsequently Sarah questions Adoniram about the new barn going up on the spot that he promised to build the family new home. Sarah’s husband ignores her apprehensions and says to her, "I wish you'd go into the house, mother, an' 'tend to your own affairs"(662). Sarah Penn demands her rights and conveys an idea about women standing up for themselves and their beliefs and moving past the obstacles that block happiness. For example, Sarah decides to stand up for her beliefs and move the family into the new barn. Sarah announces to Adoniram that, “[The family] [came] here to live... The house [is not] fit for [them] to live in any longer, ... I've done my duty by you forty year, an' I'm [going] to do